OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso, West Africa - Canada has condemned the killing of the vice president of Vancouver-based private gold explorerProgress Minerals.

Kirk Woodman, who joined Progress Minerals in 2017 was kidnapped on Tuesday by 12 heavily armed men. His bullet-riddled body was found a day later.

The abduction on Tuesday took place near the village of Tiabangou at the Bira Trend exploration site in Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation in West Africa with a population of around twenty million people. The company's vice president had been at the site since the previous Thursday.

Woodman's body was found on Wednesday in Gorom-Gorom, located in the Sahel Reserve in northeastern Burkina Fasas near Mali and Niger.

"Canada is appalled and deeply saddened that Kirk Woodman, who was abducted on January 15, 2019, has been killed in Burkina Faso," Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland said in a statement published on Thursday.

"Canada condemns those responsible for this terrible crime. We are working qith the government of Burkina Faso and other international partners to pursue those responsible and bring them to justice," the statement said. "The governmemnt's priority is the safety and escurity of Canadians."